Most patient safety research has focused on tertiary care or specialty care settings, but less is known about safety in primary care settings and there is no clear definition of patient safety incidents and harm occurring in these settings.  The authors convened a panel of family physicians and used a consensus method to define “avoidable harm” within family practice. Most scenarios found to be avoidable and included in the proposed definition involved failure to adhere to evidence-based practice guidelines, lack of timely intervention, or failure in administrative processes, such as referrals or procedures for following up on results.